Tacko Falls; Mountaineers Smother UCF

Friday, November 24

Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

5:00 p.m.

West Virginia University

5-1

UCF

4-1

UCF

West Virginia

Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks

November 24, 2017 08:55 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: John Antonik

Twenty-third ranked West Virginia used a smothering defense to blow out previously undefeated Central Florida, 83-45, in the semifinals of the AdvoCare Invitational played at HP Field House in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

The Mountaineers will face Missouri in the championship game on Sunday night at 9:30 p.m. The Tigers advanced to the finals by defeating St. John's earlier today.

After a slow start, West Virginia used a 28-3 run to turn an early 6-2 deficit in into a 30-9 lead midway into the first half. UCF shot 19 percent in the first half, the Knights hitting just four-of-21 field goals to fall behind by 23, 43-20, at the intermission.

The second half wasn't much better for the Golden Knights as they shot just 28.6 percent while committing 27 turnovers against West Virginia's constant full-court pressure.

"We played with a lot of energy," West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. "We're pretty good when we play with energy and we're bad when we don't play with energy."

West Virginia (5-1) rebounded nicely from yesterday's poor performance against Marist by getting a balanced effort across the board. Ten of the 11 players who got into today's game scored while four reached double figures.

Sophomore guard James Bolden came off the bench to score 17, senior guard Jevon Carter contributed 16, senior guard Daxter Miles Jr. had 14 and sophomore center Sagaba Konate scored 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked six shots, or five more blocks than UCF's 7-foot-6-inch, 295-pound center, Tacko Fall.

Fall was the only Knight player to reach double figures with 11.

West Virginia tried 13 fewer 3s than it night the previous night against Marist, making one more than it did against the Red Foxes (nine to eight).

Carter had another outstanding all-around performance with five steals, five assists, three rebounds and a block.

"Jevon Carter was really good and everybody knows that," Huggins said. "But Beetle (Bolden) keeps coming in and makes shots for us. I thought Beetle was good and he didn't hurt us defensively. Sags was really good around the rim. The difference when he goes out of the game and the way people look at attacking the basket it's night and day. He changes and blocks so many shots."

West Virginia's bench, led by Bolden's 17, gave Huggins 26 points.

The Mountaineers scored 27 points off of turnovers and took 21 more shots than the Golden Knights. West Virginia's largest lead was 42 points with 4:52 remaining in the game.

It was UCF's worst loss since Jan. 25, 1997 when it lost to Florida International by 39 points.

"You come out and you worry that we're going to be stale or whatever and we were to start the game, and then we got it going," Huggins said. "I didn't want to beat them that bad, but I've only got 11 guys, really 10, so it is what it is."

Central Florida and St. John's will play in Sunday's third-place game.

The championship game will be televised nationally on ESPN2.